Wednesday, May 31, 2017

May 31 or June 3

Share contents:
2 pounds new "red gold" potatoes, 1 head of golden celery, 1 bunch of scallions, 1 bunch of Italian parsley, 1 head of romaine lettuce, 1 head of cauliflower, 1 bunch of red beets, 1 bunch of garlic scapes, 1/2 pound of snow peas.

Storage:
Everything in the refrigerator.  New potatoes need to be transferred to a breathable bag so they don't get moldy.  Celery, scallions, and parsley will keep longer in a bag with the air squeezed out.  Beet greens should be removed form roots and stored in a bag if you're not going to eat them within 24 hours.
Calendula and borage in the foreground and lettuce and leeks to the left.  I love the combination of these 2 flowers to look at and the pollinating insects love it as well!
Warm Potato Salad with Sour Cream
2 pounds of new potatoes
2 to 4 scallions
3/4 cup cream
salt and pepper
1/2 cup sour cream
sherry vinegar
a few sprigs of parsley

Boil the potatoes in their skin until tender; drain.  When they are cool enough to handle, cut them into 1/4 inches slices.
Chop the scallions, green parts too, into thin coins and put them in a small saucepan with the cream.  Season with salt and pepper and warm gently to soften the scallions.  When scallions are softened, take the pan off the heat and stir in the sour cream.
When you are ready to serve the salad, put the potatoes in the cream mixture, add a splash or 2 of sherry vinegar to taste and warm again gently.  Taste for salt and add more if needed.  Serve garnished with freshly ground black pepper and chopped parsley.
This recipe adapted from Chez Panisse

Click on the link below for a beet tabouleh recipe.

 Beet and Bulgur Salad


Wednesday, May 24, 2017

May 24 or May 27 CSA

It was a muddy, wet harvest day but we found a lot of beautiful vegetables out there!  Rainy days have a unique beauty in that the colors are more vivid, sound carries differently so that the birds calls are more pronounced, and there is no race to get things harvested before the sun and heat become too intense.  Quite nice, really, in our salmon orange rain gear!

Your share this week contains:
1 head of red bibb lettuce, 1 kohlrabi, 1 pound of broccoli, 1/2 pound of sugar snap peas, 1 pound of snow peas, 1 bunch of scallions, 1 bunch of white turnips, 1 bunch of garlic scapes, 1 pint of strawberries.

Storage:
Eat the strawberries today!  We pick them ripe so they taste good but they will not keep long.  Everything else needs to be kept in the refrigerator.  Keep things in plastic bags with the air squeezed out or wrapped in a damp cloth.

JULIENNED SNOW PEA SALAD WITH SPRING HERBS
from Root to Leaf by Steven Satterfield
1 pound of snow peas
2 garlic scapes, blanched or grilled
2 T Meyer Lemon Sauce (seee below)
2 T extra virgin olive oil
Flaky sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup mixed fresh spring herbs (mint, violet, pansy, coriander flower)
  (other herbs could be dill, parsley, cilantro, anise hyssop)
Thinly slice the snow peas lengthwise and transfer them to a large bowl.  Slice the cooked garlic scapes crosswise and add to the bowl.  Toss with Meyer Lemon Sauce and olive oil, and season with salt and pepper.  garnish with herbs.

Meyer Lemon Sauce
1 Meyer Lemon, quartered and seeds removed
1 stalk of green garlic or 1 garlic clove
(or a few garlic scapes)
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
4 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Combine ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth

TURNIP and TURNIP GREEN SOUP
from Chez Panisse Vegetables by Alice Waters
1 small yellow onion
1 clove of garlic (or a few garlic scapes)
1/2 T olive oil
1/2 T unsalted butter
1 bunch turnips with greens
1 bay leaf
1/4 tsp thyme leaves
1 small piece of prosciutto or smoked bacon
4 cups rich chicken stock
salt and pepper
Reggiano Parmesan cheese

Peel and slice the onion and garlic thin.  Put in a pot with the olive oil and butter and 1 tablespoon of water and stew, covered, until they are soft and translucent.  Trim off the stems and greens from the turnips and reserve the greens.  Do not peel the turnips.  Trim off their roots, slice the turnips thin and add them to the pot.  Stew them for a few minutes, until they begin to soften.  Add the bay leaf, thyme, prosciutto or bacon, stock, and salt and pepper.  Cover and simmer over low heat for about 1/2 hour.

Wash the turnip greens and cut them into 1/2 inch wide strips and stir them into the soup.  Simmer the soup for another 10 minutes or so, until the greens are soft and tender.  Garnish the soup with a few curls of shaved Parmesan.
Serves 4.
Note: Water or vegetable stock may be substituted for the chicken stock, and the proscuitto omitted for a meatless version of this soup.

You can make a great salad with the red bibb, sugar snap peas, strawberries, and balsamic-maple syrup dressing.
DRESSING
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
3 T maple syrup
2 teaspoons dijon mustard
1 clove of garlic, diced
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Combine all ingredients in a jar with a lid and shake well to mix.  Make 30 minute ahead of time.



Wednesday, May 17, 2017

May 17 or 20 CSA

This weeks' share contains:
1 quart of strawberries, 1 head of red bibb lettuce, 1 head of frisee endive, 3/4# kale, 1/2# arugula, 1 bunch of dill, 2 green garlic, 1 bunch of hakurei turnips, 1 bunch of purple radish.

Storage:
lettuce, endive, kale, arugula will all keep best in a bag with the air squeezed out in the fridge.  If you aren't going to eat the turnip or radish greens within 2 days, cut them off of the roots and compost them or store separately in a bag with the air squeezed out.  Green garlic can be kept in drawer of fridge.  Dill will keep best wrapped in a damp cloth or paper towel.  If you won't be eating the berries right away, they keep best in a glass or plastic container with a paper towel in the bottom and a lid on in the fridge.

The arugula in your share is rather holey.  This is the work of a small insect that is difficult to control by organic means.  The one thing that can be sprayed is a broad-spectrum insecticide that kills all the beneficial insects as well as honey bees so we have chosen not to use it.  There is nothing wrong with the arugula but if you don't like the looks of it, make a pesto with it or add it to stir-fry or soup and you won't be able to see the holes any more.

You can make an excellent pesto of the arugula, green garlic, lemon juice, olive oil and salt and then use it as a dip for the mild hakurei turnips and the radishes.

The endive is very mild and is good raw in salads or lightly sauteed and added to white beans or chicken soup.

SAUTEED KALE

Ingredients


Directions

Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook until soft, but not colored. Raise heat to high, add the stock and kale and toss to combine. Cover and cook for 5 minutes. Remove cover and continue to cook, stirring until all the liquid has evaporated. Season with salt and pepper to taste and add vinegar.

Wednesday, May 10, 2017

May 10 or 13 First share 2017

This weeks' share contains:  1 pint of strawberries, 1 head of romaine lettuce, 1 head of mini bibb lettuce, 1 purple kohlrabi, 2 green garlics, 1/2 pound of spinach, 1 bunch of cilantro, 1 bunch of radish, 1 head of bok choi, 1 bunch of swiss chard.

Storage:  Everything this week will store best in the fridge.  All the greens will keep best in plastic bags with the air squeezed out.  Strawberries will be best eaten today.  Cilantro can be kept in a glass of water with the roots down in the water in the fridge.

Anne's Radish Salad
1 bunch radish (any small variety)
1 small red onion
1T fresh orange juice
1T ume-plum vinegar
1T extra virgin olive oil
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1. separate radish tops from the roots.  wash and chop radish tops and place in a bowl with the ume plum vinegar; bruise greens slightly while mixing with vinegar; let sit.

2. thinly slice radishes and red onion; place in a bowl with other ingredients; add radish tops and combine everything well.  let sit 10 minutes before eating.

GREEN GARLIC INFORMATIONAL
You can use green garlic in any application where you would use cured garlic.
Green garlic is the freshest form of garlic you can use.
 It is straight out of the ground and has had no drying time so it has a sweeter, milder flavor than cured garlic.
It is best stored in the refrigerator and used within 2 weeks.
The green top part can be used to make soup broth or stock.  It imparts great flavor but is tough to chew so should be strained off before using the stock or broth.




May 10 or 13 First Share of 2017 Logistical information



Some logistical information:
When you get your  share from a market pick-up, you will transfer the contents of the box to a cloth bag and leave the wax box with us.  Those of you in the CSA last year may still have your bag.  Anyone who needs a new one or for new members we will have bags at the 1st pick-up.  Then you need to bring those back with you each week.  Those picking up at Catawba will receive your share in the bag already and just need to return an empty bag each week when you go to get your share.

If you haven't paid yet, please bring a check with you this week when you pick up.  If you are picking up at Catawba, please mail your check.  There will not be anyone from the farm at that pick-up.

If you are picking up at Catawba, you go to the bartender and tell them your picking up a CSA share and give them your name.  They will get it from the cooler for you.  Please get in touch with us if you have any issues at Catawba.  The bartender is doing us a favor and cannot help with issues you have related to the CSA. Also, YOU MUST get your share on Wednesday at Catawba.  They do not keep them in the cooler for you longer than that.  They do not have enough space to store them overnight and we do not go back there and get boxes that weren't picked up.

If you are picking up at market, look for Gaining Ground Farm and speak with Anne or Amy.  We will get you your box and show you where the exchange box is.  If you don't make it to market to get your box, we bring it back to  the farm and put it in our cooler.  It is up to you to arrange to come get it at the farm or have it brought to the next market.

If you have someone picking up your box for you, PLEASE be sure they know our farm name and your name.  There are many farms doing CSA pick-up at market and it is confusing if they don't have the proper information.

If you know you are going to miss a pick-up due to vacation etc., the following options are available.  You can have someone else get your share.  You can have credit for up to 2 missed weeks that you can spend in $21 increments at the market stand OR you can get 2 extra boxes throughout the season.  You can shift to the other pick-up day.  In order to get credit for missed pick-ups YOU MUST let us know by Monday at 6 pm for Wednesday pick up or by 6pm Thursday for Saturday pick-up.

THE BEST WAY TO GET IN TOUCH WITH US IS:  email:  gainesground@gmail.com OR call or text Anne at:  828-545-2362

If there are other people sharing your share with you that would like the weekly emails, please let me know!

Thank you Thank you Thank you!   We are excited to begin again and thank you for joining us!  Cheers!